gpoehlein
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2009
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Well, looks like I get to join the ranks of those TRFers who have had to have a longtime beloved pet put to sleep today.
My 16 year old shorthair female (Misha) started losing some serious weight about a month ago. I took her in to the vet and we discovered she had a mass in her abdomen. The Vet said it was either Lymphoma (bad - kills in about a month) or another kind of cancer that is even worse and faster. After thinking about it, I decided my best course of action was to simply make her life as comfortable and pleasant as possible (no chance of cure and she was so skinny at that point she probably would not survive surgury any way). So I started feeding her canned food (we have used dry food for about a decade - the good stuff from Purina) and she perked up a bit for a while. But I got home from our regional contest Sunday night and she was really wobbly on her feet and ate very little. I called Monday morning and scheduled with the vet for this (Tuesday) morning. That had to be the hardest phone call I've ever made.
When I got home from work Monday night, she was barely standing, could not even get up in my lap and just stood around and stared at her water dish. She was also making little noises like she was in pain (she hadn't been before) - this all convinced me I had made the right decision. Didn't make this morning any easier though.
So now it's just me and my big Siamese male (at least until the kitten a friend of mine has is old enough to leave her mother).
So farewell, Misha. 16 years is a long time to get (and stay) attached to a pet, and in the grand scheme of things, all the good definitely outweighed this bad at the end.
My 16 year old shorthair female (Misha) started losing some serious weight about a month ago. I took her in to the vet and we discovered she had a mass in her abdomen. The Vet said it was either Lymphoma (bad - kills in about a month) or another kind of cancer that is even worse and faster. After thinking about it, I decided my best course of action was to simply make her life as comfortable and pleasant as possible (no chance of cure and she was so skinny at that point she probably would not survive surgury any way). So I started feeding her canned food (we have used dry food for about a decade - the good stuff from Purina) and she perked up a bit for a while. But I got home from our regional contest Sunday night and she was really wobbly on her feet and ate very little. I called Monday morning and scheduled with the vet for this (Tuesday) morning. That had to be the hardest phone call I've ever made.
When I got home from work Monday night, she was barely standing, could not even get up in my lap and just stood around and stared at her water dish. She was also making little noises like she was in pain (she hadn't been before) - this all convinced me I had made the right decision. Didn't make this morning any easier though.
So now it's just me and my big Siamese male (at least until the kitten a friend of mine has is old enough to leave her mother).
So farewell, Misha. 16 years is a long time to get (and stay) attached to a pet, and in the grand scheme of things, all the good definitely outweighed this bad at the end.